Adventures of a Slayer and a Time Lord
by krynny su
Summary: Fate is a funny little thing. Story #10 in the 'Adventures of a Slayer and a Time Lord' series! **Now complete!
1. Chapter One

**Adventures of a Time Lord and a Slayer (Re-write)**

**A/N-slash-Disclaimer:**

This is the official re-write, under way! :) I am going to leave the previous version up for a bit so everyone can find their way over here!

I have to say, for having just done the prologue and only having half of the first chapter written, I already like this one much, much better. :)

I don't own Doctor Who, Buffy or Torchwood. They are owned by the BBC/Joss Whedon. Blah blah blah. Now onto the show!

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

_**(Willow)**_

It's been five years since Buffy's run off with the Doctor. Five years of endless worry and hope that we'll hear that magical noise that's signaling their return.

A lot can happen in five years. A lot _has _ happened in five years.

Xander and I didn't stay in New York after…well, you know. We left with everyone else. Jack mentioned that if we were looking for jobs, he was always looking for help.

I mulled it over on the airplane. As soon as we landed in London, I settled some affairs and then moved onto Cardiff, where Jack's branch of Torchwood was located. Xander and a small group of Slayers joined me a few weeks later.

We didn't exactly work _for_ Torchwood. More like we worked _with _them. Example: If they got called to a scene and it was thought to be more monster than alien, we were called in. Professional Scooby gang. Sort of.

After working rather closely with them for so long, we all got pretty close. Some of us…closer than others.

Tosh and I began dating after six months. We moved in together after another six.

Gwen, a very pretty, very Welsh, former police-now-TW, has her fiancé, Rhys. Jack has his coffee boy, Ianto. Though, that really doesn't stop him from flirting with everyone. Literally. Everyone.

Xander dated one of the Slayers, Mieko, for a bit, but they just recently broke it off. And now it's _super _awkward.

Owen, TW's resident doctor-jerk-ladies' man, is dating Tatyana, one of the Slayers. She's tall, gorgeous and dark haired. Actually, now that I think about it, she looks a bit like Gwen.

The other three Slayers, Libby, Carlie and Hattie, have, somehow, managed to resist his charms on a consistent basis. We're pretty sure that's what has him royally pissed off all the time and also why he keeps going back to Taty.

All in all, our pitiful, somewhat meaningless, lives had been going on and on, as 'normal' as possible in the five years since Buffy and the Doctor had departed.

I even found myself, dare I say it, happy. I was constantly worried about Buffy, sure, but I was happy in every other aspect of my life.

So, of course, in true, dramatic fashion, it would all come crashing down in a matter of minutes. 

* * *

><p>I was standing outside of the Hub, Torchwood's base, waiting for Tosh. It was late and freezing, but hey, not raining for once so I didn't mind. This wasn't the first late night I was left outside the super secret hideout and surely it wouldn't be the last. As of late, they had all been working overtime on some extra Rift activity that no one could figure out.<p>

Xander, Jack and myself all had the same notions about the extra Rift activity, and it was reasonable to say that we had our hopes up for a possible arrival of sorts but we kept our suspicions quiet.

I pulled my ridiculously over sized cell phone out of my pocket and glanced at the time. I sat down on a bench and prepared myself for an even longer wait than the night before, doubting that Tosh had even torn herself away from her computer yet.

None of us Scoobies had ever entered the Hub nor have any of Torchwood entered our office. It was a non-interfering-unless-absolutely-necessary code thing that we had all agreed on upon our arrival here.

After a few minutes of sitting, I suddenly started to get a weird tingly, buzz-y sensation in my legs. I attested to my awful sitting posture and stood up to stretch.

The tingles didn't stop. They started to spread. Up my legs, up my arms right to my fingertips and down to my toes.

This, clearly, wasn't a restless nerve thing. It was a magic-y power thing.

Every cell in my body buzzed straight to my core and back out.

And then it stopped.

Just as quick as it had started.

I stood there, dazed, in a smokey power haze.

I managed to finagle a small notepad out of my bag, and a pen. I quickly began to write down what I had felt and was feeling now, just in case of a memory lapse.

A thunderous crack boomed through the sky, with a large burst of light, followed by more cracks.

It wasn't the 'ooh-it-looks-like-a-storm' kind of thunder. More like the 'something-big-is-about-to-go-down' kind.

I jotted down a note about the deafening noise and light show. I stopped writing when I noticed a large patch of heavy smoke rising nearby, where I had thought the crack to have 'landed', that is, if it did 'land' at all.

I carefully walked towards it, realizing that while yes, it was just smoke, it could be potentially hazardous. But hey, I was part-Goddess now. I could (probably) deal with whatever it was.

"Willow? Willow? Are you alright? What's happened?"

I stopped and turned to see Tosh, Jack and Ianto all running up behind me, guns drawn.

I frowned at the sight of the guns.

"I'm not sure…but it definitely wasn't a random thunder and lightning storm." I mumbled, looking back towards the smoke. I peered closer.

No. It couldn't be…could it? Yes. It was. There was a body, lying on the ground, underneath the smokey haze.

I ran over and kneeled down.

"Willow! Don't touch it! It could be dangerous!" Jack yelled, running up behind me.

I huffed. "Yes, it could, however, it could also die if we don't check it out."

I took my sweater off and waved it around, trying to clear away the smoke.

I could see the formation of a body. Female, indicated by the fact that she had not a scrap of clothing on. I could see strands of blonde, stringy hair. There was something…familiar.

I looked back at Jack and we shared the same thought. I just knew it. He bent down, hesitantly, next to me. We both reached out, preparing ourselves for the worst as we rolled the mystery girl over.

I barely heard Jack breathe a sigh of relief at it not being Buffy.

For me, it's when time stopped existing.

Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. I felt the sweater leave my hands. I felt my eyes widen. I felt my mouth gape and I felt my hands rise up to reach it. Tosh, Jack and Ianto's shouts of concern were just whispers in the background.

There was a reason this body had seemed familiar to me. A very, very good reason. It was a body I had traced with my fingertips a thousand times.

"Tara?"


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter One**

_**(Buffy)**_

My first day back in the TARDIS left me with a roller coaster of emotions.

After we left the hospital, the Doctor escorted me safely back to the TARDIS.

When I stepped through the familiar double doors….well….that's all that was really familiar about her. Okay, I'm fibbing a bit. The doors _and_ the console. Everything else was brand spankin' new.

Well, okay. Not new. She was still just as ancient as my Doctor.

Different. Very different. Everything was completely redesigned.

Just like my Doctor.

I settled down on his pilot's chair while he ran around the console, flipping switches and levers, twirling and dancing about while he rambled away.

I raised an eyebrow and let out a little laugh. He was so different!

He stopped his….dancing and stared at me.

"What?"

I smiled. "It's nothing."

"No, it's something. What?"

"It's just, you're so….different, now. I can't figure you out."

He stopped dancing around and leaned against the console, staring at me.

"It's only the outside that's different. I'm still the same on the inside."

"Your voice is different and the last time that I checked, the voice box is located on the inside of your body. Unless it's different with you aliens."

"You're making jokes at my expense. You must be feeling better."

"I do. Feel better, that is."

I was only partially lying. A very carefully composed half-truth. The whole truth was that yeah, I felt fine physically but emotionally I was a huge pile of messy mess.

I thought that it would've been easy to kill Angelus the second time, especially seeing as how he was using the Doctor as his own personal alien anatomy dummy. But it wasn't. Not at all. It felt just the same as it did the first time I had to do it, but worse because Angel actually did still exist in this dimension and I knew that I was going to have to see him eventually, some day. And when that day came, I would have to look and see that face that I killed. Twice.

Then there was the whole deal with Spike. That completely threw me off but I have to say, it wasn't necessarily unexpected. I knew that when I gave the amulet to Spike that night we were playing with some dangerous, unpredictable forces. On top of the Hellmouth. A riled up, feisty Hellmouth. Two very non-mixy things.

Then on top of all that, there was the little spiritual visit I had had with Dawn while I was unconscious. Part of me really wanted to just confide in the Doctor everything that Dawn had told me but I knew that I couldn't. I didn't exactly know what my future had in store, per se, but I did know that I had been changed somehow. Altered. I had this inkling suspicion that the Doctor wouldn't really see the difference between the two.

He seemed to notice that I was done talking for the time being and went back to working with the console.

I leaned back in my chair. After another few minutes, the Doctor spoke up.

"There we are! Good as new. Well, she is new. Not the core, so to say. Just the interface. Oh! Look! New sonic. All ready and set for adventure. What do you say?" he rambled off incoherently.

I stared at him.

"I say….huh?"

"New ship. New sonic. New adventures. Yay or nay?"

I smiled and took in a sharp, uneasy breath.

"Any other time…yeah, sure. Right now? No. Not so much."

The Doctor's face deflated a bit. "Why not?"

"Why not? Oh, I don't know. But I will say that it probably has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I was just completed my longest hospital stay on record and I'm wiped out from it. Or the fact that our last little adventure nearly killed us both." I paused in thought. "Actually, it _did _get you killed. Hence Doctor New Face."

Instead of being put off by my sourness, he smiled and turned back towards the console.

"Ahh yes. You're definitely feeling better if you're using sarcasm."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Fine. We'll go. We'll explore. We'll have an adventure. New sonic doo-hickey, new ship, new…Doctor and everything. But I swear to the Powers That Be, if we get killed by something, I'm going to kick your ghosty ass."

The Doctor ran over and pulled me into a monstrous hug. He was wearing the 'stupid-creepy-giddy-happy-way-too-excited' smile.

"That's my girl! But first, there's a thing."

I pulled out of his hug a little bit, still leaving myself in his arms and raised my eyebrow. "A thing?"

"Yes. A thing. A very important thing. Thing one, really."

"Ooookay…."

"That thing being, technically, you'd be the only ghosty in that scenario. I'd just regenerate."

I stared at him blankly. I couldn't come up with a response so I just pulled myself the rest of the way out of his arms and flicked the lever on the console. The TARDIS went to work and soon, she was making her whirring-whooshing materializing noise.

* * *

><p>"This is going to be brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. I thought for our first trip together, well, you know with this face, we could go back into history. Just like our first real trip together. But instead of Elvis or Shakespeare, I thought of something perhaps a bit…well, something you'd enjoy more."<p>

I stepped out of the TARDIS cautiously, peering around every corner I could as I listened to the Doctor ramble on. I stretched out my senses, hoping that they wouldn't fail me in alerting for danger.

"Buffy, my sweetheart, welcome to 1950s Hollywood! Would you care to escort me to a Hollywood party? Just one flash of the psychic paper and we will be in mingling with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Fred Astaire—"

"Doctor…" I called. "I don't mean to interrupt, well, okay, I do, but this isn't 1950s Hollywood. This isn't even America at all."

"What? Why? How? Rubbish." he responded, jumping back from the console and joining me outside the doors.

I pointed to a street sign that was on the corner of the street adjacent to us.

"Cardiff, see?"

I turned around and searched behind me. I spotted what I was looking for and grabbed it out of the top of the rubbish bin.

"Local Cardiff newspaper. Dated January 20, 2010."

He grabbed the paper from me and examined it, thoroughly. The old him, the one I'd seen just days ago, would've had his specs on at this point.

He examined it for all of three seconds before tossing it back in the bin.

"Okay, so. We know several things."

"We do?"

"Number one- we are, in fact, in Cardiff. Number two—The TARDIS must need to refuel after her…ordeals. Obviously, with the Rift and all, why _not_Cardiff?"

"And number three?"

"Oh number three! Number three is my favorite. Number three is the best. Number three is _excellent_."

"I'm scared to ask now."

"Happy Birthday! Well, belated. It was yesterday, Sorry. Busy regenerating and saving the planet yesterday."

I sighed. Great. We all know how my birthdays work out.

Just as well as the Doctor's Christmases.

"Question. Did you know it was going to be my birthday? Or, well, the day after."

"Course not! I was aiming for 1950s Hollywood, remember?"

"I'm pretty sure that my birthday, and the day after, existed in the 1950s."

"Complete coincidence." he assured.

"You know my theory on coincidences." I deadpanned.

His tone of voice changed and that stupid-creepy-giddy-happy smile reappeared.

"Let's explore the city, shall we? The TARDIS'll take a while to refuel. No use in sitting around like old bumpy filled logs!"

* * *

><p>We were sitting on a bench outside of a chip shop. I was devouring a basket of said deliciousness while the Doctor stared at his, rambling away.<p>

"What kind of chip shop doesn't serve custard with their fish fingers? Absolutely ridiculous."

I giggled. "Um..normal ones? Who eats that anyways?"

"Me. I do. It's who I am now. Fish finger and custard…guy."

"Does this mean I'll never have to look at another banana again?" I grinned.

"Oh very funny. I invented the banana daiquiri, you know. During pre-Revolutionary France."

I raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I did! Madame du Pompadour was being chased around by some gorgeous clockwork aliens. I met a wonderful horse too. Arthur. Mickey and…" his voice trailed off and he got quiet.

I got the message loud and clear.

While he did love me very much, Rose was still tough to talk about and I understood that perfectly.

See Angel and Spike.

"And Rose." I said, gently squeezing his hand.

He jumped up suddenly, dumping chips and fish fingers everywhere.

"Birthday celebrations! What would you like to do next?" he asked, clapping his hands together excitedly.

I sighed at his lack of wanting to actually share his troubled thoughts with me for once and sat in thought for a moment.

"Umm….how about a movie?"

"A movie? A _movie_? Movies are boring! They're so long and you have to sit and…ugh…they're so _boring_."

"Okay okay. No movie. Jeez. I feel like a mom that just suggested dental surgery on Christmas. Uhhh….how about a walk around the city then? This is my first time in Cardiff. We can sightsee and you can tell me stories?"

He grinned and held his arm out to me. "Would you care to accompany me for a stroll, my dear?"

"Let's see….2010…..so I just turned…..twenty-nine. Oh, ew. Yuck. That's so old." I cringed.

"Try over nine-hundred." the Doctor smiled.

I laughed and pecked him on the cheek.

He stopped walking for a moment and looked at me oddly.

"What…?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. That was just…odd. No. Not odd. Please don't hit me. Just…new body. Weird."

"I think it's safe if we pretend that little ramble never existed."

"Gladly."

Out of nowhere, a deafening crack followed by a burst of bright, white light burst across the sky, followed by several more loud cracks.

I want to say the Doctor squealed, but I'm not entirely sure what the noise he emitted was.

All I know is that he was far, far too giddy. And I knew what that meant.

I sighed.

"We're checking that out, aren't we?"

He answered by dragging me on a dead run.

I followed, of course, expecting to see some ridiculous alien or monster we were going to have to defeat. What I did not expect, however, was to see Jack.

Yes, _that_ Jack. Captain Jack.

He was standing with his gun raised. There was a younger, handsome man in a top nines type of suit, standing behind him. He also had a gun raised.

I followed the line of vision from their gun barrels and saw a pretty, small-ish Asian woman looking worriedly on at a redhead that was bent over another body on the ground.

A redhead that I knew very well to be my best friend.

"Willow? What the.. who is that she's bent over? Can you see, Doctor?"

Before he could answer, we watched as Jack lowered his gun and walked over to Willow's side. They shared a look of—I want to say worry—and then flipped the body over.

Jack's breath of relief was completely audible, even back to where the Doctor and I were standing. Willow….she was a different story. All the color drained out of her face. I watched her body go rigid. She slowly moved her hand up to her mouth, in shock and possibly some horror.

Jack and the other two shouted after her, with concern.

And then she whispered a name that made _my_body stand still.

Tara…?


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Two**

I ran as fast as my Slayer-y little legs could carry me.

At this exact moment in time, nothing mattered more to me than Willow. Not my wibbly wobbly feelings about slaying parallel universe Angelus nor my extremely sore, not entirely healed body.

If anyone knew what it was like to have your supposedly dead ex-lover come flying out from nowhere, it was me.

"Willow!" I yelled as I hurtled myself towards the small group of people surrounding her.

They all turned, except for Willow. She was still in obvious shock, staring intently at Tara. Well, carbon copy Tara.

"Buff?" Jack beamed in excitement. "What are you doing here? Where….Where's the Doctor?" he added on, a little bit more seriously.

"Here! Right here. Here I am. All…Doctor-y." he said, slightly panting, as he sprinted up behind me.

"Hard to keep up with this one when she's dead on a mission….ooh, sorry. That was a rather….impractical expression to use, given the last few days. Jack! Good to see you. How are you? Still leading on Torchwood, I see."

Jack looked at me, then back to the Doctor and finally back at me. I nodded. He shifted his gaze back to the Doctor.

"I see you've regenerated again. Nice face."

"Yes, I'm handsome, thank you. But what is this?" he said, gesturing towards Willow and Tara. Well, Tara-Clone.

I bent down and wrapped my arms around Willow.

"Willow?"

She shook her head and looked up at me. Her face was paler than usual and completely tear stained. I could read every single emotion.

Fear, hope, worry, happiness, sadness…you name it, she was feeling it.

"Buffy…it's Ta…how? How can it be?"

I pulled her close and she resumed her loud sobs into my shoulder. I looked up at the Doctor.

He nodded and turned towards the TC.

"Let's get her inside before people start getting curious. A group of people surrounding an unconscious, naked girl is bound to stir up something." he replied, answering my unspoken question.

* * *

><p>After we had brought TC inside, I ran back to the TARDIS and grabbed her some clothing. What? Nobody wants to wake up in a room full of people naked. Well, okay. Some might but they just aren't my kind of people.<p>

I walked back into the Hub about fifteen minutes later to find some extra people hovering about.

"Buffy! You're home! Well, back anyway. Where's the Doc?" Xander asked, hugging me.

"Down here and Xander, I've asked you repeatedly not to call me that. We're not in a cartoon and you're not Bugs Bunny." the Doctor replied.

He was down in what looked like a makeshift hospital room, machinery and everything, examining the TC.

It gave me a wiggins.

The Tara-Clone _and _the makeshift hospital room. Blech.

"Oh, it's him. So, what happened?" Xander asked.

"What do you mean?" I replied, nervously.

Jack and Xander looked at one another and then turned their stares to me.

"Why's he different? And why do you look like someone dropped a twenty-story building on you?"

"He's got a point. You do look a bit…peaked." Jack agreed.

I didn't particularly feel like launching into the re-tell, not exactly yet anyway so I took the cop-out and just replied very simply.

"Stuff."

"Stuff?" Jack and Xander questioned in unison.

I sighed.

"Parallel dimension-y, big fight-y, big rescue-y, regenerate-y stuff."

They both looked at each other then switched their glances to me. Neither one of them was at all phased by what I said.

Jack nodded and walked off while Xander, well, was himself.

"I like his bow-tie. Very 007. The tweed jacket…not so much. That's more…. 'librarian Giles'. Nobody wants to be that. The bow-tie is good though."

I smiled and pulled Xander in for a hug.

"I missed you, Xand."

"Right back atcha, Buff."

I pulled out of the hug and smiled at him. "Go sit with Willow, huh? She needs you right now."

He nodded. "Aye aye, Captain."

I turned and followed after Jack. 

* * *

><p>He was sitting behind his desk, in his small-ish office, flipping through some papers.<p>

"Soooo you're not even going to introduce me to your team?"

"The dark haired, very Welsh woman is Gwen Cooper, the short haired, well, _corpse-y_ one, is Dr. Owen Harper, the man behind the coffee machine is Ianto Jones and the Asian woman, more than likely sitting behind a computer, is Toshiko Sato. Tosh." Jack said, not looking up from his paperwork.

"She _is_sitting behind a computer. Impressive."

"Would you expect anything less from me?" he asked, casually.

"Poor Tosh."

"Poor Tosh?"

I shut the door behind me and sat myself in a chair in front of his desk.

"Her and Wills are obviously in some sort of relationship. I'm assuming at some point, someone, either Xander or possibly even Willow herself, explained about Tara."

Jack stopped flipping through the papers, opting instead to stare at them intently.

"Xander, I'm betting. Tosh asked me if I knew anything about Willow's past, I'm assuming to accompany some conversation they had had and I told her she was barking up the wrong tree. I never knew Tara so I didn't know what had happened between them. For all I knew, Tara was still alive. Before you get all….fist-y with me, not that I would mind it, I told her that she should wait for Willow to be comfortable enough to tell her herself. I under no circumstances told her to go ask Xander. She did that on her own. I'm not exactly sure what she knows. You'd have to ask her or Xander that."

I smiled a small smile. "Oh Xander. Always a sucker for the sad girl."

Jack lifted his head from his papers and clasped his hands together.

"What happened, Buffy?"

I sighed. "Between you and me?"

"If I tell a soul, you will take personal pleasure in murdering me over and over. Got it."

"The TARDIS got sucked through a hole in the Vortex. It crashed in a parallel dimension. Guess where? Good ol' Sunnydale, CA. I'm sure that you remember from our time of being chained up together on the Valiant during that whole 'year that never was' thing, me telling you about Angel and the whole…lost soul thing?"

"Mostly, I remember that whole 'Princess Leia-slave' costume you had going on." he smirked.

"Knowing that you will just come back to life, I will have no problem whatsoever coming across that desk and choking you to death."

Jack thought for a second then smiled, well, grinned. "Yes, I remember. Please carry on, Miss Summers."

"Well, turns out, in this parallel dimension thing….I didn't come out the winner so much. In that scenario. Angelus did. He killed everyone. Mom, Xander, Willow, Faith, myself. The only ones that managed to survive were Giles and Oz. Anyway, Angelus & gang kidnapped the Doctor and tortured him literally to death. Giles and Oz helped to arm me up. I nearly died saving the Doctor's life."

"I take it you didn't know about the regeneration then? That you didn't necessarily have to get yourself killed to save his life?"

"To be honest, I forgot about the whole regeneration thing. But I still had to risk my life to save him."

He looked at me, puzzled.

"Not only because it's who I am, Slayer-wise, but I love him. I am absolutely, one-hundred percent, in love with him. There was no way I could've just run in, grabbed him and left. Angelus had to pay for what he did to him."

Jack was silent for a few minutes before speaking up. "And then what happened?"

I debated what to say next. I could definitely tell him about Spike and the amulet, but could I trust him with the info Dawn had given to me?

"What I'm about to say to you, it stays between us. Not one person can know. Especially not the Doctor."


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N:** Just a little chapter so we can see things a bit from Tosh's POV. Sorry this has taken so long! I've literally been sick for ¾ of this month! Ugh! In thinking ahead, I feel like there may only be one or two (at the most) chapters left in this story :) Enjoy! Thank you for reading!

**Chapter Three**

_**(Tosh)**_

"Willow? Can we talk in private?"

It had taken me forever to get my courage up to ask. Silly, it was. Me needing to get courage up to ask my lover if we could have a chat.

She had talked to me about Tara some before. Not to any extent though. For instance, I hadn't any idea that she was dead.

Willow had just said that the relationship had ended very, very badly for everyone involved and that was the end of it.

It hurt deeply that she hadn't trusted me enough to confide.

She looked up at me from her seat behind my desk and nodded. I lead her into the conference room and shut the door, flicking off the outside surveillance cameras on my way.

No one out there needed to see our private chat.

"Willow, sweetheart…I need to know what this means for us."

She stared at me blankly. Her face was even paler than it usually was. The area outside her eyes seemed to reflect a dark shade from where what little makeup she wore, ran.

"What do you mean?"

"You refuse to tell me what happened between the two of you, and it hurts but it's fine, I guess because I understand, but I know how much you loved her. Love her still. I can tell. And now she's here. What does this mean for you and I? Our relationship?"

"Out of everything that's happened tonight, this is what you want me to be thinking about?" she questioned, angrily.

"Honestly? Yes. It is. I need to know, Willow. I'm confused. And scared. I have no idea what's going on. All I know is how much I love you. And how frightened I am of losing you."

She was still for a few moments before rising to her feet and walking towards the door.

"For the record, Tosh, I never told you because it's none of your damn business. As for us? I…..I honestly don't know. I need to be alone."

She slammed the door behind her.

I walked from the conference room back to my desk as calmly as I could, hoping no one would take note that Will and I had had an argument.

They were all still focusing on Tara, with the exception of Jack who was locked up in his office with Buffy. I took note that Willow had sat herself next to Xander and was clutching onto his arm. Alone meaning not with me.

I took the quiet opportunity to slip a small pendant out from it's hiding spot inside my desk.

I had found it in a pile of alien artifacts that needed to be catalogued last year. After a fair bit of research, I learned that it supposedly lead the wearer to read minds. I had tried it out a few times before, just to get the logistics of how it worked down.

I snapped the clasp closed and my head was ambushed by several different 'voices'. I took the pendant off immediately. I took several deep breaths and snapped back around my neck, this time focusing on just Willow.

It was very strange. Instead of the normal hum one would hear, her mind was very…different. Silent but filled with a great electricity that just vibrated everywhere. It was wonderful and terrifying all at the same time.

Suddenly, the electricity stopped…vibrating. Like the link had been cut. I looked over to where everyone was gathered around Tara. I hadn't noticed that Jack and Buffy had re-joined the group. The Doctor, Jack, Buffy and Willow were all staring at me. Well, not at me. At the pendant. Like….like they knew.

"Someone reading minds here? Or is it just me? My psychic paper is all a buzz." the Doctor quipped, pulling a small notepad out of his pocket.

"And where is this bloke from again?" Owen asked. "I mean, we're sure he's not straight out of a hospital, right?"

"Gallifrey."

"…What?" Owen asked again.

"You asked where I was from. I'm from the planet Gallifrey. In the constellation of Kasterborous."

"And he's _definitely_crazy." Buffy chimed in. She was still staring daggers at me. "But that's why I love him." she added on with a smile.

"Feeling alright Tosh?" Jack asked. His voice had a curious tone to it.

I was starting to feel a bit suffocated.

"Um, no, actually…I…I'm just going to go up for some fresh air."

I ran out the cog door as fast as it would open.

I didn't notice she was sitting down next to me till she spoke.

In that odd way that she seemed to always speak. Well, not always. Tonight was the first time I had met her. I had only previously known her from tales told by Willow, Xander and Jack.

"Reading minds—not all it's cracked up to be, huh?"

The sentence shocked me.

"How…how did you know?"

"Been there, done that, got the trophy. Okay. Not trophy. More like…a plaque."

"…What?"

"It's Tosh, right? I meet so many people these days it's getting hard to keep track of names."

I just nodded.

"Let me tell you a story."

"I don't really—"

"Oh, no. Trust me. It's a good one. It's got gross monsters, a stunningly beautiful damsel-in-distress, un-requited love….it's got everything."

"Oh, um, okay. I guess."

"Once upon a time there was a young girl, all of eighteen years old. She was special. A heroine. She was cursed with being the only girl in the entire world to have the power to defeat evil. And did I mention gorgeous? Anyway, one night she was out patrolling for said evil when she came upon two ugly beasts. She fought and killed one but it was a tough fight and the other managed to get away. What she did not realize until a day or so later, was that some of the dead demon's blood got on her and soaked into her skin. It was this whole….. 'aspect of the demon' thing. She spent the entire day checking mirrors for horns and a tail, but what she got, well, it was much, much cooler. And a lot less gross. Or so she thought."

"Excuse me but I don't normally interrupt—"

"Yeah, you're right. The fairytale thing kind of lost it's vibe way back in the beginning. Basically, I could read minds. At first, it was super awesome. Well, until you find out that your mother had sex with librarian mentor-types that happen to be very influential in your life on top of a police car. But still, it was pretty neat. Then…not so much."

"What happened?"

"I was in the cafeteria during lunch. The voices….they were all too much. I passed out. I won't go into the side story of that, but let's just say, the next day, after I was all better, I killed two birds with one stone. Literally. Long story short, the mind reading almost killed me. And, no offense, but I'm way stronger than you are. It's a very powerful thing. It's not something to be toyed with or to be taken lightly."

"You talk like you don't have it anymore."

"I don't."

"How? You said it was in your skin."

"Well, my on-again, off-again boyfriend at the time was a vampire and he managed to find the other demon that got away. They cut out his heart and mashed it into demon juice and…..let's not make me remember that, okay?"

I nodded.

"You understand what I'm getting at though? The way to understanding Willow….it's not by digging through her thoughts and memories. It's about asking."

"I did ask—"

"And understanding when she doesn't want to talk about it. You're very keen to know this so I'm going to tell you. And you're going to understand exactly why Willow keeps it…hidden so to say."

"Okay."

"I suppose you know Willow's witchy?"

I nodded. Her power was incredible.

"Well, before she was all super earth-y Goddess-y, witchy, she was just….well, witchy. She practiced and practiced and she got very good. Some alarms started going off though. She was getting too heavy in it. It became her addiction. Literally. She almost killed my little sister by overdosing on magic. Tara noticed. An ultimatum was made, Willow thought she could do it…another long story short…she failed. Tara left her. After that, Willow really started making a conscious effort on, um, I wonder what the terminology would be…..uh, magic rehab, I guess? Anyway, after a few months, her and Tara started talking again and they started to rekindle things. Then….Tara was murdered. Right in front of Willow. She went off the deep edge. Straight down. Her rage ate her whole and she was nothing but a pure ball of hate and power. It was honestly the most scared I've ever been in my entire life. And I've died. A lot. Seeing her lose control like that….and not being able to stop her. We fought. I thought I was going to have to…kill her. She was on a dead war path. Nothing was safe. She's murdered someone. Bet you didn't know that. The puny little weasel that shot Tara. Ripped his flesh straight off. All it took was a flick of her hand. She went from that to deciding the world needed to go bye-bye. In the end, well, in the end, Xander was the only one able to get through to her. Willow doesn't talk about that period of her life anymore for a reason, Tosh. Because it's her past. Her very dark, very complicated, very tragic past. Are you happy knowing all of that now?"

"I…didn't…"

"You didn't know. More like you didn't care."

"I do care! I love her. With everything I have."

"Toshiko, if you loved her as much as you say you do, you would be sitting by her side right now, comforting her in her time of need, instead of fooling around with worthless alien junk."

Before I could stop her, Buffy grabbed the pendant from around my neck and crushed it in her bare hands, reducing it to nothing more than a fine, metallic dust.

We sat quietly, awkwardly, for another moment before I brought up another question.

"Buffy? I was wearing that pendant the whole time we were talking…..so why couldn't I hear your thoughts?"

She smiled. "My mind is protected."

"By?"

"It…..is really complicated Slayer crap." she laughed.

"And Jack? I couldn't read his as well."

"Jack….Jack is a very special man. Very special indeed. But his story isn't mine to tell. There are some things in this world that you're just going to have to accept without knowing the back story behind them. Jack is one of those. Just trust him. In whatever he does. Just trust him."

"And the Doctor?"

She smiled again. "Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. He's just barely over nine-hundred years old. He regenerates when he dies. Just found that out pretty recently. As in, like, a few days ago. His story is even longer than Jack's. Well, at this point. He tells me bits and pieces. What he can live with me knowing and what I can live with knowing. That's the difference between us. You and me. I stopped the kid games long ago. I should get back inside. Just…remember what I said, yeah? Oh God. I'm talking British. I need to go home."

She got up and walked back in towards the Hub. Her seat was almost immediately taken up by Willow.

"The invisible lift is neat." she said, awkwardly, after a few minutes.

"Willow—"

"Tosh, we're through."

"What?"

"We're through. I...needed you real bad tonight and you haven't been there for me one step of the way. Not one. Then you tried to violate my mind?"

"I didn't…violate—"

"So you don't call trying to read someone's mind so you can find out their past secrets a violation?"

"Okay, well, yes, but—"

"It's done, Tosh. We're done. As soon as we figure out this thing with Tara, Xander and I are taking her back to Scotland. Back to the Slayer's Council."


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N:** Last chapter in this story! The next story is totally complete…just fine tuning it a bit! It will be posted shortly….probably even today! :] Thank you for reading and to all that reviewed as well! 

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

_**(Buffy)**_

I left Willow and Tosh outside to discuss their issues in private. Nothing worse than an audience when you're having a heated argument. However, the discussion apparently didn't last too long 'cause Willow came stepping off the invisible elevator (so awesome, by the way) moments after I had.

"Will—how did it go?" Xander asked.

"Later." she replied, somberly.

Not well, I thought. I decided to leave the Willow-Tosh drama world for awhile and see what the Doctor had found.

I walked down the steps to instead find the Doctor and Owen arguing like kids.

"I'm the doctor for Torchwood Three. Dr. Owen Harper. That's me. This is _my _job you're doing!"

"Not while I'm here, it's not. I've got far more experience than you do. I'm over nine-hundred years old. What are you? Twenty-eight? Twenty-nine? Now go away. You're in my light."

"Now boys, do I have to separate you? Do we need time outs?" I asked, mockingly.

"He started it." the Doctor mumbled.

"I'll gladly take a time out as long you're there." Owen smiled at me.

"Yeah, don't do corpses. Thanks though."

"Angel. Spike. Technically corpses." Xander tossed out, in passing.

"Fine. I don't do sleazebags."

"Parker. Angelus. Riley towards the end."

"Xander, shut up!" I yelled. The mention of Angelus' name burned like acid inside of me.

"Besides, there's no need for your, erm, services, Dr. Harper. Either of them. Buffy is already happily take and I've already got everything figured out." the Doctor replied, staring at his sonic.

"Wait, what? How? I mean, how do you have it all figured out?" Gwen asked.

"Because he's brilliant." Jack smiled. "The cleverest man in the entire universe. And probably on into the next."

"I'm not a man. I'm an alien." the Doctor corrected. I rolled my eyes and elbowed him.

"Ow! What—oh, right. Thank you for the compliment, Jack."

"He really hasn't changed that much, huh?"

"That's our Doctor. Absolutely genius and still rude as ever." I smiled.

"Still not ginger either." the Doctor added, in a low breath.

"You were saying that you had this figured out?" Jack asked.

"I'll talk with you and Buffy privately in your office, if you don't mind."

He nodded and walked off.

The Doctor turned towards Willow.

"Willow, I assure you Tara will be fine. However, I should warn you that when she wakes up, and she will, I promise, she may not know who you are. She's from a dimension where you di-" I slapped the Doctor on the back of the head. "—haven't met yet. Just…be careful with her, yeah? It's going to take some time for her to adjust. But I promise you, she will."

Willow nodded and smiled for the very first time all night. "Thank you. For everything. I mean that."

The Doctor and I joined Jack in his office a few minutes later.

"How could you nearly tell her that she died in that dimension?"

"I didn't, thanks to your uncontrollable violent tendencies. There's no harm in her knowing. It's not her future. It's a completely different version of herself. It's entirely plausible that that version would have died. Also, in a dimension that she could never get to."

"Okay, how about psychological harm? Ever think of that?"

"As interesting as your lovers spat is, I've got work to do. So, Doctor. Explain." Jack interrupted.

"I suppose that when you and Buffy were locked in here earlier, she was telling you all about what happened?"

Jack nodded. "Yes."

I was praying that he would keep his mouth shut about what ghosty Dawn told me.

The Doctor looked between Jack and I for a moment then continued on.

"While she was unconscious in the TARDIS, I met a very young girl named Amelia Pond. The TARDIS crashed in her backyard. She was absolutely terrified of a crack in her wall."

"A…crack? She was afraid of bad drywall?" Jack asked.

"Okay. Amelia Pond had-slash-has a crack in her wall. What does that have to do with Tara-clone coming through the Rift?" I asked.

"It's not just a crack in her wall. It's a crack throughout time and space. A crack that somehow interferes with Amelia Pond's life."

Jack's eyes widened. Apparently he knew what the Doctor was talking about. Good thing one of us did.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Nearly positive."

"I'm…lost." I said. "Someone 'splainy?"

"The crack is the reason we fell through the Vortex, into that dimension. It's the cause of the extra Rift activity that Torchwood's been feeling here."

"Okayyy. So, what caused it?"

The Doctor was silent for a few very uncomfortable moments.

"I did. Traveling throughout time. Jumping from here to there and back to here again. It takes a toll, after awhile. I was lecturing Willow on her magical use affecting the Universe and look at what I did. Cracked it wide open. Oh, don't look like that, sweetheart. You had nothing to do with it. Especially since the last bit of it you spent being unconscious. The crack widened when I forced the TARDIS out of the alternate dimension, back into the Vortex. Tara…she helped us to do that. She must've practiced magic in that dimension as well…and she must've been powerful. The TARDIS was having difficulties operating due to the crack so it clung on to Tara as a power source. Drained her of all her…magic."

I mulled all that over in my head. "So…that's just one big, monologue-y way of saying two things. One—Tara was an accidental hitchhiker. Two—things are about to get hectic."

"…..Basically. Yes."

"So, Tara, she was from that alternate dimension that Buffy told me about?"

"Yes, thank you for paying attention, Jack." I retorted.

"Hey, he rambles. Just making sure I understood."

I ignored Jack and turned back to the Doctor.

"Is there a way to get her back? Not that I want to hurt Willow like that, but if it comes down to a Universe save-y thing vs. Tara staying…"

"No. We'd have to re-open the Rift. It's too dangerous to do that. This is her new home." Jack replied from behind me.

"What kind of dangerous?"

"Opening the Hellmouth dangerous. Besides, I sealed off the dimension as we busted out of it." the Doctor replied.

"Apparently not good enough." Jack replied.

"Okay. Rift stays closed. And Jack, knock it off. Don't make me kill you."

"Doctor, what do you want me to do? Torchwood Three is here to help."

"Nothing. You do nothing about this. You stay here, being the best the leader you can for your team. Keep doing what you always have. Things are only going to get worse before they get better. Buffy and I will handle this. Well, I'll handle it. I'm only bringing her along 'cause I know the consequences of leaving her behind."

"Damn straight." I retorted. "Jack, get the Slayers involved if it gets too bad. My orders."

Jack grinned and saluted. "Good luck in your travels, Doctor. Don't stay away so long next time. Specifically you, Buffy." he winked.

"Oh, he's never going to change. I _really_ hate when people salute me."

* * *

><p>"You're leaving, Buff? Already? You just got here." Xander semi-whined.<p>

We stood outside, near the TARDIS. The Doctor was already inside, letting us say our goodbyes in semi-privacy. It was daylight out now. The sun was bright yet not warm at all. It was actually absolutely freezing out.

"Guess so. World save-y stuff. Well, Universe save-y, actually. I think. Not sure. I'll let ya know."

Willow pulled me into a tight hug.

"Thank you. For everything. I love you, Buffy."

I smiled. "Love ya too, Will."

"Okay, make way for the guy with one eye! Group hug time!"

Xander wrapped his arms tightly around Willow and I.

"Love ya too, Xand."

"Ahhh….the words I've wanted to hear….only thirteen years too late."

I rolled my eyes and backed out of the group hug that was now a bit awkward thanks to Xander.

"Will, promise me one thing? Well, two things. First off, listen to what the Doctor said about Tara. She's probably going to be super confused. Two, try not to be too hard on Tosh, kay? If I've learned anything from my travels with the Doctor, it's that you don't know when your time is up—or when someone else's is, ya know? I guess what I'm saying is…just think of this whole situation from her point of view."

She nodded reluctantly. I turned to Xander.

"Take care of her, huh?"

"Always have and always will." he smiled.

"Give my love to Giles and Faith?"

"Love to the G-man and psycho Slayer. Got it."

I smiled and waved 'bye', closing the TARDIS doors behind me.

The Doctor was at the console fiddling with knobs and levers, and staring intently at the screen. I sat myself in the chair next to him. He glanced over at me.

"Tired?"

"Eh, a little. Mostly, these bandages are just really itchy and it's been annoying me for hours now." I pulled my shirt up and started removing them as I was talking. "I would've taken them off sooner but—"

"You didn't want Willow and Xander to know how badly you were hurt."

I tossed the dirty bandages aside and raised an eyebrow at him. "Anyone ever tell you how rude that is?"

"Quite often, really." he smiled. He stopped fidgeting with the screen and bent down in front of me. "This never ceases to amaze me. How you can heal so fast. Just a few days ago, you were near death and now look at you." He moved his hand across my side. The only thing left to prove my injury was a tiny scar that formed a short, wave-y line.

The Doctor entwined our hands.

"Yeah, I'm pretty amazing like that." I smiled.

He smiled and kissed hand. "I already knew that." He stood up and resumed his stance behind the screen, fidgeting with it's knobs.

"What exactly are you looking for on that?" I asked, curiously.

"Nothing really. Just seeing if there was a way for me to trace the crack."

His answer made sense (sort of) however, his tone was different. Evasive.

"Oh, let me see." I stood up and started to take the few steps over to him, but he quickly turned the knob and the screen went off before I could see anything.

"Why don't you sit back down and rest? We're nearly ready. I've just got to go underneath and repair a few things before we get on our way."

It was clear he didn't want me to see what was on the screen, but why? What could it be? Curious. Very curious indeed.

Oh God. I'm turning into Giles.

Regardless of my curiosity, I sat down like he suggested, this time on the stairs to the below deck. I sat in silence, watching him work.

"I hope they're okay." I said, after a bit.

He looked over at me, from underneath his ridiculous goggled. "Who?"

"Willow. Tara. Tosh."

He shrugged. "They'll be fine. They'll do what you humans do best. "They'll adapt. Tosh will adapt to life without Willow. Tara will adapt to her new life in a new dimension and Willow will adapt to the different version of Tara. It's human nature."

He snapped two…things in place and stood up out of his swing-y chair.

"That should do it." he said, lifting his goggles up. He ran, past me, up the small set of stairs, to the console. I followed suit.

He resumed hitting buttons and turning knobs. "The very first place I saw the crack was in Amy's bedroom when she was a child."

I placed my hand on the TARDIS' control lever.

"Then that's our first stop. Paying a visit to one miss Amy Pond."

The Doctor grinned, the silly, maniacal one that I had fallen in love with, and placed his hand on top of mine, pushing the lever forward.

"Geronimo!"


End file.
